It Took the NRA One Day to Crush President Trump’s Gun Reforms

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Today she announced President Trump's unconditional surrender to the NRA.Chris Kleponis/CNP via ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

From the Wall Street Journal:

At a televised meeting earlier in the week with lawmakers, Mr. Trump had endorsed a Senate proposal to significantly expand background checks on gun sales and said he wanted to see sales of some firearms restricted to people who were 21 or older. He also suggested some guns be taken away from people without due process. All of these stances run counter to the positions of the NRA, the nation’s largest gun-rights organization.

I remember that meeting. It was on Wednesday. On Thursday Trump met with the NRA. So what happened today?

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters Friday morning Mr. Trump now considers a federal increase in the minimum age as likely unrealistic….On background checks, Ms. Sanders dialed back the president’s stance. He is seeking “not necessarily universal background checks, but certainly improving the background-check system. He wants to see what that legislation, the final piece of it looks like,” she said.

That didn’t take long. I guess Sanders didn’t bother saying anything about taking away people’s guns since everyone knows that was just blue-sky blathering in the first place. Ditto for the assault weapons ban. The bottom line appears to be that Trump now supports Sen. John Cornyn’s feeble “Fix NICS” bill and that’s about it. What a surprise.

 

LET’S TALK ABOUT OPTIMISM FOR A CHANGE

Democracy and journalism are in crisis mode—and have been for a while. So how about doing something different?

Mother Jones did. We just merged with the Center for Investigative Reporting, bringing the radio show Reveal, the documentary film team CIR Studios, and Mother Jones together as one bigger, bolder investigative journalism nonprofit.

And this is the first time we’re asking you to support the new organization we’re building. In “Less Dreading, More Doing,” we lay it all out for you: why we merged, how we’re stronger together, why we’re optimistic about the work ahead, and why we need to raise the First $500,000 in online donations by June 22.

It won’t be easy. There are many exciting new things to share with you, but spoiler: Wiggle room in our budget is not among them. We can’t afford missing these goals. We need this to be a big one. Falling flat would be utterly devastating right now.

A First $500,000 donation of $500, $50, or $5 would mean the world to us—a signal that you believe in the power of independent investigative reporting like we do. And whether you can pitch in or not, we have a free Strengthen Journalism sticker for you so you can help us spread the word and make the most of this huge moment.

payment methods

LET’S TALK ABOUT OPTIMISM FOR A CHANGE

Democracy and journalism are in crisis mode—and have been for a while. So how about doing something different?

Mother Jones did. We just merged with the Center for Investigative Reporting, bringing the radio show Reveal, the documentary film team CIR Studios, and Mother Jones together as one bigger, bolder investigative journalism nonprofit.

And this is the first time we’re asking you to support the new organization we’re building. In “Less Dreading, More Doing,” we lay it all out for you: why we merged, how we’re stronger together, why we’re optimistic about the work ahead, and why we need to raise the First $500,000 in online donations by June 22.

It won’t be easy. There are many exciting new things to share with you, but spoiler: Wiggle room in our budget is not among them. We can’t afford missing these goals. We need this to be a big one. Falling flat would be utterly devastating right now.

A First $500,000 donation of $500, $50, or $5 would mean the world to us—a signal that you believe in the power of independent investigative reporting like we do. And whether you can pitch in or not, we have a free Strengthen Journalism sticker for you so you can help us spread the word and make the most of this huge moment.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate